Mass Effect: Foundation 3
Mass Effect: Foundation 3 is the third issue of the 13-issue Mass Effect: Foundation comic series published by Dark Horse Comics. Release Information *Publication Date: September 25, 2013http://www.newsarama.com/18102-dark-horse-comics-september-2013-solicitations.html *Tagline: The Fall of Eden Prime! *Writer: Mac Walters *Artist: Tony Parker *Colorist: Michael Atiyeh *Cover Artist: Benjamin Carré Publisher's Summary The loss of the human colony Eden Prime was the first in a series of catastrophes to mark the return of the Reapers—a race of sentient AI that would threaten all life in the galaxy. Now, in her own words, Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams reveals what she saw. Story At an undisclosed location on Eden Prime a day after Saren Arterius' attack, Kai Leng employs brutal interrogation methods on a captured Alliance soldier for information regarding what happened. The soldier, Bates, recounts that he and his squad were supposed to be on a search-and-rescue mission when they were attacked by as-yet unidentified mechs. Bates ran for his life in the ensuing chaos and knew nothing further on the subject, so Leng decides to kill him and make it look like he died with the rest of his squad. Leng relays his findings to Rasa, who is currently stationed at the Citadel and spying on the soldier's squad leader, Ashley Williams. Posing as an Alliance psychologist Rasa sets up a meeting with Williams and gets her to talk about the attack from her perspective. Two days before the attack, Ashley and her fellows from unit 212 were having time off at a bar when they were recalled for a recon mission regarding a recent archaeological dig. 31 soldiers in 4 squads head off to the mission site: 3 squads on transports, while Ashley's 6-man Dog Squad takes the day-long journey on foot. Sergeant Donkey is assigned leader of Dog Squad by their commanding officer, who passes over Ashley due to the stain of her Williams heritage. On the night of the attack itself, Dog Squad finds all of the 14-man Bravo Squad dead on a ditch, apparently ambushed before they can even draw weapons. Transmissions from the dig site report Able and Charlie squads taking fire from an unknown enemy. Because of the shift in mission parameters and the need for a real leader, Sergeant Donkey cedes leadership of Dog Squad to Ashley, trusting in her ability to keep cool under fire. Ashley leads the team to the dig site at dawn hoping to reinforce their fellows and catching the enemy offguard, but they're spotted by recon drones and fired upon. Dog Squad tries to execute its battle plan, but is quickly overwhelmed by massive numbers of the enemy, now thought to be geth. One by one the soldiers fall until only Ashley is left, and she keeps on fighting until Commander Shepard's timely rescue. Back on the Citadel, Ashley concludes her side of the story and Rasa relays her findings to Leng after parting ways with the soldier. Although Captain Anderson has apparently neglected to mention the geth in his report, Rasa is intrigued with the unknowns. She learned that Shepard was somehow affected by the beacon and is interested in finding out more, but Kai Leng discourages her from doing so and commands her to report back to Cerberus ASAP. Rasa remarks that she'll have to meet the Commander another time. References ru:Mass Effect: Основание 3 uk:Mass Effect: Підстава №3